Garden Chemical Shelf Life

Can you use last years garden chemicals for this season? Do your herbicides, composts, fungicides and pesticides have a shelf life and if so for how long? Let’s look at ready made garden chemicals, mix them yourself chemicals and dry goods.

Ready Mixed Garden Chemicals

These chemicals should not loose their potency from one year to the next.
Do not store them in conditions of extreme heat or cold.
The factory based mixing should have been done so there is no chemical reaction between the constituent parts of the mixture.

Mix them Yourself Garden Chemicals

Concentrates that that you have mixed yourself can go off within a day or so, certainly the shelf life is less than a week.
The concentrate will last but the act of mixing with water can cause problems.
Impurities in the water and even air bubbles can start a chemical reaction that renders the solution unviable or not fit for purpose.

Dry Garden Chemicals

As long as powders and granules are kept dry, in suitable packaging and at a reasonable temperature they will have a good shelf life unless indicated strongly on the packaging.
Growmore and granular fertilisers should have a good shelf life.
Mix it your self fertilisers like Chempak have a good shelf life but make sure they are properly dissolved when mixing them.
Composts and soil mixtures have a shelf life of around six months. Fresher the better.
Where a product can get damp or starts damp it will deteriorate.

Other Issues on Garden Chemical Shelf Life

Always read the instructions and dilute to the correct strength.
RHS advice on garden chemicals
Pesticide safety education programme
Beware old chemicals should not be kept after they have been declared unsafe by EEC regulation.
Treat homemade organic chemical mixes with the same care as bought chemicals.
Keep equipment clean and wash out when you are finished.
Pesticides and other chemicals don’t spoil suddenly. They deteriorate over several years and even at 70 to 80 percent they may still be effective.

Best Weedkillers

Amicide (Ammonium Sulphamate) is an effective weedkiller, but, unfortunately no longer available commercially. It is particularly effective at killing strong weeds like horsetail.
You can sometimes find on ebay. People offer it as a compost accelerator with strict instructions not to use as a weedkiller.

Glyphosate

Glyphosate is the most commonly available weedkiller on the market. It is sold under brand names such as Round Up.
The good thing about Glyphosate is that it is safe and soon breaks down on contact with the soil. It is systemic which means it works its way down the plant into the roots. It also doesn’t kill the plant straight away which is good as it gives time for weedkiller to work its way down into roots.

• Roundup Weedkiller concentrate. Good for large areas which need treating.

In some countries it is actually accepted as an organic weedkiller. But, not in the UK.

It’s only drawback is that you will need repeated applications for strong and resilient weeds such as horsetail and bindweed.

Related

• Tips for Weeding a garden
• Weedkillers at Amazon.co.uk
• Weedkillers at Focus DIY
• Invasive Weeds
• Weed management at BBC

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Horsetail Eradication

Horsetail is a tough weed. Great Horsetail (Equisetum telmateia telmateia), has been around for over 60 million years, so don’t be surprised if it is tough to get rid of!

It is not impossible to remove, but, you will need patience and perseverance.

Dealing With Horsetail

1. Digging Horsetail.

• The problem with horsetail is that its roots can be over 1 metre under the ground. Also the roots are very thin and easily break.
• However, at the start of a horsetail clearance it is worth trying to dig some of the higher roots from the soil as this will weaken the food reserves and plant.
• The important thing is to wait for the soil to dry out, as this makes it easier to dig more of the root out. If you have a light crumbly soil it will be more easier. It is difficult in a clay soil.
• Dig the spade a foot into the ground and look out for the black roots, shake away the soil and try and keep as much of the root as possible.
• One problem with digging horsetail is that if you break up the roots into many different pieces you may actually end up creating more plants, as it only needs one inch of root to regenerate. Never use a cultivator.
• Important: Before putting roots on compost, make sure you leave for a few days to dry out (or alternatively you can dunk in water).
• The horsetail will almost certainly return. You can try repeatedly hoeing until the plant loses all energy. But, prepared to do it frequently and repeatedly. It may take more than one growing season.

Weedkiller for Horsetail.

• Glyphospate (Round UP) does damage the plant. After repeated applications you should be able to kill the plant.
  Try crushing the leaves before applying the weedkiller, this enables the weedkiller to get right into the plant. After a day or so, the weedkiller will turn the leaves brown – a sign it has damaged it. The plant will regrow, but, after 5 or 6 applications the weed should be killed off. Hopefully!

• Roundup Weedkiller concentrate. Good for large areas which need treating.

Related

• Weedkillers at Amazon.co.uk
• Weedkillers at Focus DIY

Weedkiller for Dandelions

At this time of the year, dandelions are growing fast and will soon be setting seed and sowing more seeds for next year. One option is to dig out dandelions with a small spade or trowel. They have a long root which all needs to be taken out. It can feel satisfying to dig out a long root, but, it is difficult to stop it breaking.

Alternatively, you can use a good systemic weedkiller. For well established dandelions with deep roots, they may take a few repeated spraying to completely eradicate. But, ultimately, a weed killer will finish off dandelions.

Roundup Weedkiller concentrate. Good for large areas which need treating.

Handy spray gun, good for small areas and prevents the need for mixing up concentrate in a spray can.

Treating Dandelions in Lawns

Treating dandelions in lawns requires a little more care. Again, you could use the manual approach of using a trowel to dig out the odd weed. Alternatively, you can use a particular lawn weedkiller such as:

Spray Gun for Lawn weeds

Are Dandelions Weeds?

Yes, definitely if you don’t want them there. They will also spread quite quickly, they thrive in the British climate. Some might grow Dandelions for their leaves and roots (can be made into a somewhat bitter coffee). Also the yellow flowers are quite attractive. It’s not the end of the world to have them in your lawn.

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